Peter B. Teets

The Aerospace Corporation Announces Election of Peter B. Teets to Board

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (6/9/05) -- Peter B. Teets, retired president and chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin Corp. and formerly under secretary of the Air Force and director of the National Reconnaissance Office, has been elected to The Aerospace Corporation’s board of trustees. He was elected today to a three-year term during the board’s quarterly meeting held at the company’s headquarters in El Segundo, Calif.

Teets began his career with Martin Marietta, Denver, Colo., in 1963, as an engineer in flight control analysis. In 1970, he began managing the inertial guidance system to the Titan IIIC launch vehicle. He became program manager for the company's Transtage Project and director of Space Systems in 1975. Five years later, Teets became vice president of Business Development for Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace, and, in 1982, joined its Strategic and Launch Systems Division as vice president and general manager. Following two years in these positions, Teets became president of Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace, and, in 1993, president of the company's Space Group.

After the Lockheed Martin merger in 1995 and until 1997, Teets served as president and chief operating officer of the Information and Services Sector. In 1997 he was elevated to president and chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin Corp., a position he held until he retired in 1999.

He accepted the post of under secretary of the Air Force and director of the NRO in 2001, and retired from government service in March 2005.

“Pete has an exceptional background of service as a top executive in the aerospace industry and within the Department of Defense. He will bring a great deal of valuable experience to our board and we look forward to his participation,” said Dr. William F. Ballhaus Jr., president and chief executive officer of The Aerospace Corporation.

Teets is an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Astronautical Society. He also is an MIT Sloan fellow and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has received the Wernher von Braun Space Flight Trophy, the W. Stuart Symington Award for the most significant contribution to national defense by a civilian in 2004, and the Bob Hope Distinguished Citizen Award.

The Aerospace Corporation, with headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., is an independent, nonprofit company that provides objective technical analyses and assessments for national security space programs and selected civil and commercial space programs in the national interest.